Tag Archives: Eggs

Well, these are some DON’Ts of winter chicken care: Don’t keep waterers in the coop overnight. It causes moisture and dampness. Moisture inside a cold coop causes frostbite. Moreover, chickens will only be sleeping at night, there is no need to put water in the coop overnight. Moving the feeders and waterers outside of the coop will help encourage your chickens to come outside during the day. Getting outside and getting exercise and fresh air is important for your chickens. Don’t let your water freeze. Making sure […]

HATCHING WITH AN INCUBATOR HATCHING WITH A BROODY HEN PROS PROS Depending on the size of your incubator, you can hatch many more eggs at one time than the dozen or so able to fit under a broody hen. Hen controls heat and humidity as well as turning of eggs. You can hatch whenever you want — no waiting on a hen to go broody. Satisfies a hen that wants to be a mommy. Your eggs (and little newly-hatched chicks) are safe from predators and other […]

A hen lays eggs irrespective of the presence of a rooster. A rooster is only necessary if you desire fertilized eggs to raise more chickens. In the egg industry, male chicks are culled shortly after birth as there is little to no use for the males. Many people believe that these male chicks go on to the meat industry where they will be raised for food. This is not the case. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, estimates […]

Protecting your chickens from predators is often a constant battle for chicken keepers. Predators are active both during the day and night, all year long. In the fall, predators get even more aggressive and taking preventative measures is critical. You’ve heard the saying, “The best offense is a good defense” definitely applies to protecting your chickens from predators. Measures you can take to keep your flock safe: Build a sturdy coop Of course, a sturdy coop isn’t foolproof, but it’s like a Berlin Wall between your […]

On average, hens start laying eggs around 20 weeks of age, with peak production occurring around 27–30 weeks of age, depending on how old they are, their breed, the time of year it is when they become sexually mature, and of course whether you are feeding them good food and plentiful fresh clean water. Different breeds start laying at different ages. Golden Comets may begin laying as early as 16 weeks! Rhode Island Reds, Delawares and Barred Plymouth Rocks are also early layers, usually around 18–20 weeks. […]

It is fairly easy to differentiate between male and female chickens when they are adults, but not chicks. Baby chicks are pretty much small, cute, fluffy, soft, and indistinguishable, with their boy and girl parts mostly inside their bodies and are thus not visible until they’re four to six weeks old. There are three chick sexing techniques that can help determine the sex of a newly hatched chick: Vent sexing Vent sexing is the most accurate method. This sexing method involves squeezing the feces out of […]

Chickens provide us with nourishment through both meat and eggs. Chickens are great for keeping pests under control in your yard. They also eat whatever household food scraps are provided to them, thus minimizing the amount of food waste. Their manure is an excellent fertilizer for your garden plants after being composted down. Chickens also create sources of income for farm families. Chickens make great pets both for kids and adults. Check out my post on Top 6 Benefits To Raise Chickens In Your Backyard Also, watch […]

First, can you imagine a world without chicken eggs? I love breakfast, and what is breakfast without sunny-side up or scrambled eggs? An interesting article titled ‘A World Without Chickens’ by Andrew Lawler, published on his website andrewlawler.com, suggests that we would be in big trouble, if this humble bird disappeared. ‘Chickageddon’ as he termed it. Olivier Hanotte, a molecular biologist at the University of Nottingham in United Kingdom, says without chickens, we would face “a starving world”. He also says, “Pandemics and riots could ensue, unleashing […]

A precise count of the number of chickens and their eggs worldwide is impossible. The leading international farm animal welfare organization Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) cited that there are over 50 billion chickens worldwide. However, Statista, a leading statistical agency based in New York, estimated that in 2016, there were approximately 22.7 billion chickens in the world. In that year, there were approximately 5 billion chickens in China, about 2 billion chickens in Indonesia and 1.97 billion chickens in the United States. According to statistics from […]